Driskill Wedding Weekend

One of our dear friends got married this weekend in Austin, Texas at the Driskill Hotel.  We were friends with 75% of the invited guests, which made the weekend extra special.  How many chances in life do you get to spend a weekend with a hotel  full of friends?

Missy and Josh we wish you a lifetime of happiness together.  Cheers!

Pixies and Pirates

Our niece, Presley, had a "Pixies and Pirates" themed birthday party at Little Gym.  Presley gave her friends either a pixie or a pirate costume and they played around the gym for 90-minutes.  My husband represented us at the party, because while the party was going on I was watching our other niece, Paxten, who was sick and sleepy. 

Beginners

For a fresh take on a movie about love, life, and death and the consequences of each, you must add Beginners to your Netflix queue.  We watched this movie this weekend, and we both really enjoyed it.  I'm a fan of any movie that has the "it's-never-too-late-to-be-what-you-might-have-been" theme.  No matter your age, you can always be a beginner- it's so hopeful!  Go see this film.

Uh-Oh

I did not think this through.  In August my husband and I planned a ski trip for February.  Also, in August I started looking around for my next career move.  (I'm trying to climb the career ladder.  Trying.)  At the time I thought there was no way (Jose) I'd still be at my current job six months later.  I didn't tell anyone about the week I needed off from work to go skiing in February.  Guess what?  I'm still here.  Next month is February.  I've got a ski trip planned.

I thought about playing the "I-thought-I-told-you" card  or just playing the "I-told-you-and-you-forgot" card.  But it just seemed dishonest.  I was going to go with the "we-go-skiing-every-year" card while pretending like it's no big deal, but at the last minute I couldn't help myself and I told the truth.  I blurted out the "when-we-planned-this-trip-I-wasn't-expecting-to-still-be-here-but-I-need-this-week-off" card.  Guess what?  The truth worked.  It made my boss laugh too.

This proves, once again, there is nothing wrong with the truth.

Basic to Brilliant Y'all

My brother gave me Virginia Willis' Basic to Brilliant, Y'all: 150 Refined Southern Recipes and Ways to Dress Them Up for Company cookbook for Christmas, and I've spent the last several days reading it.  For anyone who wants to elevate your cooking, then I highly recommend this cookbook.  I love how she explains techniques and offers helpful hints.  I can't wait to get cookin'!  This is a teaching cookbook, and I always like to learn!

I just discovered Virginia Willis, and apparently her first cookbook Bon Appetit, Y'all: Recipes and Stories from Three Generations of Southern Cooking was a huge hit.  (Honey if you're reading this, then stop reading here.)  I think I'll need to go buy it! 

Best Parents

I think any article with this title is a must read!

Why Gay Parents May Be the Best Parents

Woo Hoo!

MLK Jr.

Yesterday Americans observed the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.  I didn't go into the office, and I thought about him many times yesterday as I worked around the house.  What he accomplished is still unbelievable to me... 

Cross Contamination

Sometimes my husband acts like a straight man.  Yesterday he spilled some limeade on our kitchen floor.  (He spilled it because I didn't screw the lid on properly, but that's another story...) So he took our kitchen towel and mopped up the limeade on the floor of our kitchen.  A few minutes later I thought I recognized the kitchen towel sitting next to our sink.  Here's how the conversation went:

Me: "Honey, is this the towel you used to clean the floor?" (Picking up the towel from the counter)
Him: "Yes"
Me: "So...you cleaned the floor with this towel and now it's back on the counter?"
Him: "Our floors are clean."

Happy Birthday Presley

Today our oldest niece, Presley, turns four years old.  Her party with friends is scheduled for next weekend, but last night we joined my parents and my brother's family at The Cheese Cake Factory to celebrate Presley's birth.

The servers thought she was a cutie, because in fact she is a cutie, and as a result they all wanted to join in.   We had a chorus of servers loudly singing her happy birthday.   It was great.

Unfortunately, her parents missed the epic song, because our youngest niece's, Paxten's, diaper exploded and my brother and his wife both were in the bathroom dealing with that crisis at the time. 

Pizza Party for Two

My husband made his always delicious pizza for supper tonight.  Yes, he makes the dough and the sauce for his pizza, which is why it's such a unique and tasty treat.

Alaska Snow

Have you been following Alaska's great snow fall?  After graduating law school my best friend from childhood, Zach,  moved with his wife to Alaska.  They now have a house, a baby son, a vegetable garden, and a few animals.  I think they're set up to be in Alaska for life. 

My husband was aware of the incredible snow storm, and he told me to check on Zach.  I emailed him to make sure he was still alive.  Here's his reply, which I wanted to share, because although our childhoods were very similar our adult life is completely different:

"Alive. It's been a ridiculous winter:  snow waste deep in the yard, boilers breaking, pipes freezing, plow truck transmissions going out, moose attacking and damaging [his wife's] car (no, that's not a joke), moose tearing down the animal fence - twice, and the list goes on. Texas ain't lookin' too bad at this point!!!"

New Friends

She's a violinist that grew up in Communist China,  Scotland, and Australia.  He's a former Marine that grew up in California.  They both are yoga teachers based in Australia.  They've spent six months teaching at our studio, and now they're about to go back home.  Last night we took them to dinner at Hillstone as a farewell gift. 

It's fun being friends with interesting people!  Maybe one day we'll make it to Australia to visit them.

QOTD

"Sometimes the things you want the most don't happen and what you least expect happens. I don't know - you meet thousands of people and none of them really touch you. And then you meet one person and your life is changed forever."

- Jaime in the movie Love & Other Drugs

Homos, A Threat to Humanity's Future

Hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your husband...because according to the Pope homos are a threat to humanity!  I don't really know how my relationship with my husband affects you, but those are just silly details...

From Reuters: Pope Benedict said Monday that gay marriage was one of several threats to the traditional family that undermined "the future of humanity itself."

Sunday Lunch

For lunch the husband and I ate Cajun crawfish tamales, Mediterranean curry couscous with fresh tomatoes, and Texas broccoli salad.   DELICIOUS!

Love & Other Drugs

Is there anything greater than an unexpected delight?!  Last night we watched Love & Other Drugs and it was a delightful movie.  It's definitely worth your time.  Anne Hathaway has never looked more beautiful.  Her performance in this film is stunning.  And Jake Gyllenhaal, like his sister, is a superior actor.

Jamie: "...I have never known anyone who actually believed that I was enough. Until I met you. And then you made me believe it, too. So, uh... unfortunately... I need you. And you need me."
Maggie: "No I don't."
Jamie: "Yes you do."
Maggie: "No I don't."
Jamie: "YES, you do."
Maggie: "Stop it, stop saying that."
Jamie: "You need someone to take care of you."
Maggie: "No, I don't!"
Jamie: "Everybody does."
Maggie: "I'm gonna need you more than you need me."
Jamie: "That's okay."
Maggie: [crying] "No it's not! It isn't FAIR! I have places to go!"
Jamie: "You'll go there. I just may have to carry you."
Maggie: "...I can't ask you to do that."
Jamie: "You didn't."

I loved that moment in the film.  My husband and I first met in 2003, and even after all this time he still makes me feel like I am enough.  It frightened me at first; I thought my husband would eventually discover my many flaws and he would become disillusioned.   That hasn't happened.  My husband loves me unconditionally, flaws and all, and it improves my self-esteem to see myself through my husband's eyes. 

I know I'm a better individual today because of my relationship with my husband.

Lots of Love for Lucy

Grief is upon us once again!  My parents had to put down Lucy yesterday.  She hadn't eaten for days, and the vet said she was suffering as her body began to shut down.  Lucy would have been 16 years old in May.  When I turned 16 years old Lucy was my birthday present.  She is the one that started my family's love for Jack Russell Terriers.  She was the first dog my parents let us keep in the house.  I still remember the after-lunch road trip my mother and I took to a distant town to pick out a puppy after my father told us not to get a puppy!  I picked Lucy because she was the most adventurous one in the litter. 

Lucy was smart.  I taught her to sit-stay-come within a few minutes.  I had to give away my pet ferret to my friend Stephanie because at 8-weeks-old Lucy's only goal in life was to hunt Rascal.  From the beginning, Lucy insisted on sleeping in bed with me; including the night she started giving birth to her puppies in my bed!  Once Lucy found a mouse inside my grandparents' cabin, and she killed it immediately.  I was so shocked at the ferociousness my loveable Lucy displayed.

It was impossible (maybe even cruel) to keep Lucy as an apartment dog; I went to college and she stayed with my parents.  I missed Lucy so much at college, and after reading online that French bulldogs were great apartment dogs I adopted Martha Fauker.

The sting of Martha's death in 2010 lasted for so long that I slowly began to emotionally disconnect from Lucy these past few months.  I was trying to prepare myself.  (Are we ever prepared for death?) We spent two weeks at my parents' house in December, and I knew Lucy's days were numbered.  She was an old girl.  Her fantastic life was winding down.

What I love to think about most is all the wonderful things Lucy added to my life for almost 16 years.  She had a bit of elegance to her.  She could be aloof at times towards other dogs and people, but she was a wonderful dog.  I love Lucy.

Free Tickets

We got free tickets to the Dallas Stars hockey game.  Attending a sporting event with really good tickets is a lot of fun.  I think hockey needs to slow down a little bit, because I had a hard time seeing the puck go into the goal. 

When I was in high school (in the 1900's) I worked at a video store with Meg, who was a few years younger than me.  Meg was the biggest Dallas Stars hockey fan.  I can still remember how thrilled she was when the Dallas Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999.  She died a few years ago in a car crash.  I couldn't stop thinking about about Meg at the hockey game. 

Double Date

We went on a double date with our friends Dave and Myranda to Reunion Tower in Dallas.  It was the first time we had dined in the iconic Dallas ball in the sky.  It was expensive, we had a four course meal, but it was worth it.  I loved the slow rotation of the dinning room.  It was one of those things everyone needs to try once.

Dooley and Trigger

Trigger and Dooley wish you a happy new year.  (Aren't they beautiful!)

Not An Alternative Lifestyle.

I don't promote this blog to my friends, but as the years roll by more of them are aware of its existence.  One of our friends, Zach, discovered this blog recently and in our discussion he asked why I maintain this blog?  It doesn't earn money.  It's not self promoting- I've never used our names and faces.  He was curious why I'd be so committed to a blog.  It's simple. 

I want to prove that my relationship with my husband is equal to (not less than) any other married couple.  If you don't know a gay couple, then you can easily get caught up in the stereotypes.  I'm trying (in my own little way) to show that there is nothing mysterious about a husband and husband relationship.  It's normal.

After our conversation Zach told me that he understood.  He said I was trying to prove that a gay relationship is NOT an alternative lifestyle.  It's just like any other heterosexual relationship.

That is exactly what I'm trying to do.

$10,266.16

My husband just wrote a check to the Dallas County tax office for $10,266.16, which represents the 2011 property taxes assessed for our house.  With those taxes I fell like we should be living in a house like the above photo- a mansion- but we live in our single-story, three bedroom, two and half bathroom house.

Like I post every year on this blog, my husband and I pay property taxes, we pay income taxes, we pay sales taxes to our local, state, and federal taxing authority.  We happily pay taxes, because the U.S.A. is the greatest nation in the world.  We pay equal taxes, but we don't have equal rights.  It's ridiculous.

I want the freedom to marry the person I love, anything less than marriage equality is unacceptable.

Thatagirl! Seize the Moment.

My husband's sister is the mother of our nephew, Owen, and she is also a senior certified Baron Baptiste yoga teacher.   She and her husband celebrated the new year at a party with friends, and I guess they got a little rowdy because one of her friends had the bartender clear the bar so my husband's sister could demonstrate her hand stand for the crowd.

It's a respectable achievement to be able to do a hand-stand beyond the high school years, right?  It's phenomenal to be a thirty-something mother/wife and willing to seize the moment when it's offered to demonstrate the hand stand on top of a bar at a party.  I admire her courage to just go for it.  Bravo.

I need a little more of that just-go-for-it in my life. 

The Dawn of 2012

Since we were asleep before midnight, we rang in the new year at breakfast this morning with Presley and Paxten.  Happy New Year!  Presley sang "happy birthday" to "time" at breakfast.  (And then she sang "happy birthday" to the television.) It was a superb start to what I know will be an incredible year.  Goodbye 2011.  Hello 2012. 

The best days are always ahead of you, right?

Just like our friend Del said, "Onward and forward..."

Final Hours of 2011

We spent the final hours of 2011 with two incredible individuals our nieces, Presley (almost 4 years old) and Paxten (20 months).  We took them to the Dallas World Aquarium but I think they had more fun at the park next to White Rock Lake.  We also played with Cinderella toys, colored My Little Pony coloring books, cooked dinner, and read books after bath time.  We were all in bed asleep before midnight.  It was a great way to wrap up a year.

What Trinkets?

My husband said he wants me to stop buying "trinkets."    TRINKETS?!  I don't see any "trinkets" in these photos.  I see stone tea light holders, beautiful pillows, and semi-precious stone bookends.  I didn't buy any "trinkets" with my Christmas cash.